


Until The Ribbon Breaks

by checkerboardom



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, fair warning most of this is based off of memory, villain boyfriends au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-05-16 20:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5840581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/checkerboardom/pseuds/checkerboardom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's the sound of waves crashing in his ears and soft sand under his feet, a hand tucked into his with fingers intertwined and eyes as blue and endless as the ocean looking back at him. </p><p>Then he lets go and--</p><p>There's the sound of his name echoing in his ears and hard concrete under his feet, a hand wrapped around his with fingers that grip too strong in their urgency and a portal as endless and blue as the ocean opening up before him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fort Five Minutes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheNarator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarator/gifts).



> This isn't going to end happy. You've been warned.

There's the sound of waves crashing in his ears and soft sand under his feet, a hand tucked into his with fingers intertwined and eyes as blue and endless as the ocean looking back at him.

Then he lets go and--

There's the sound of his name echoing in his ears and hard concrete under his feet, a hand wrapped around his with fingers that grip too strong in their urgency and a portal as endless and blue as the ocean opening up before him.

...

Twelve Months Earlier  
...

He wakes to the feeling of sunshine on his skin, warm and lethargic as the sun sheds light into their room. It no longer occurs to him that he's stopped calling it Eobard's room, Eobard's bed, Eobard's home sometime around the time he'd started keeping his clothes in one half of the dresser.

"Good morning." Eobard says and Cisco rolls over so that he can actually look at the door, where his boss is already dressed in a form fitting black suit. "You're going to be late if you don't get up."

"I thought I wasn't scheduled until..." He trails off, eyes widening as he realizes exactly what day it is. "I need to be there for the final system checks on the accelerator!"

Eobard chuckles as he scrambles out of the bed, the sheets doing their best to trip him up as they tangle around his left ankle and he pauses in his dash for clothes in order to free himself.

"We won't be up and running until tonight." He reminds him as Cisco pulls on a pair of pants. "Tomorrow will be a new day, but for now," He grabs Cisco's wrist and plucks his hair tie away, tossing it somewhere where Cisco isn't likely to bother looking for it. "We'll take things one step at a time."

"Starting with my hair care?" Cisco asks dubiously and Eobard gives him a look that sends a shiver down his spine.

"I like it down." He admits, fingers brushing the tips of his hair, too close to his pulse point to not be intentional and Cisco tilts his head into his hand. Eobard smiles. "You should wear it like this more often."

"I haven't even brushed it yet." Cisco points out, but he knows that he won't be putting it up any more, not if Eobard's felt the need to mention it.

"When the accelerator blows I want you somewhere safe. Go to your workroom if you'd like, but not anywhere where you can be caught in the blast if something goes wrong." Eobard tells him and his voice no longer holds the gentle teasing it had before. It's a cold command and Cisco shivers for a very different reason now.

"But--" He objects and Eobard cuts him off with a sharp sound.

"I want you safe." He repeats, fingers digging into Cisco's shoulders with uncomfortable pressure. "Do you hear me, Cisco?"

Cisco swallows his words and nods. "Yes, sir." He answers dutifully and Eobard smiles before pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

"Forty-five minutes." He says and Cisco nods, pin-pricks traveling along his skin as he makes his way to the bathroom.

"Forty-five minutes." He repeats to himself and his stomach flips at the idea. Less than an hour after the accelerator starts up for him to make sure that Caitlin and Ronnie are safe too, less than eight hours before all the work that he's done over the last year becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Less than eight hours before he becomes an accessory to the murder of hundreds of people throughout the city, or better --worse?-- before he becomes the joint creator of a city of people with superpowers.

He looks at his reflection for a long moment, studying himself as he tries to keep his fists from clenching on the countertop. "Forty five minutes."

...

Ronnie is waiting for him when he gets to labs, practically bouncing on his feet as he ushers Cisco to the Pipeline. This is their sector, their department, and Cisco has never before felt chilled at the sight of it until now.

"Is not like you to be late." Ronnie observes as puts in his clearance code for the RF sector. "Especially on a day like this."

"I slept through my alarm. But you know, I'm not actually late for another five minutes." Cisco tells him, leading the way into the Pipeline. "How's Cait?"

Ronnie moves over to the control panel, putting in his own clearance codes as he checks off his list for green lights. "Excited for the wedding." He grins. "We both are, even if she wants to spend our honeymoon on a-- Hold on, lemme look at something."

"What is it?" Cisco feels his stomach drop as he spots the red light on Ronnie's panel and quickly checks his own. It's green.

"Blast door's running an error." Ronnie says and tosses him a walkie. "It's probably one of the switches. I'll check it out from the inside if you wanna stay here and tell me when the light goes green."

Cisco nods and tries to remember what Eobard had said he'd altered in the accelerator. He wouldn't have messed with the blast doors, not if he wanted to keep the Labs intact during the explosion. "Do you want me to leave it open?"

Ronnie pauses, humming as he looks over the blast door. He shakes his head. "Nah, we might as well get that test out of the way too. You know the override code?"

"Yeah." Cisco knows the override codes for every department in the building, even the ones that his position doesn't allow him to know. It's something that Eobard had wanted him to have just in case, but so far he hasn't had a reason to use most of them.

He waits by Ronnie's panel, glancing between the now closed blast door and the screen on the wall. He can see Ronnie as he works, the beam of his flashlight lighting up the innards of the accelerator as he looks everything over.

"It was the switch." He says into the walkie as he pushes the lever up to the on position and Cisco punches in the code to the blast door as the light on the panel goes green. He doesn't want Ronnie in there longer than he needs to be, doesn't want to risk it. The thought of Caitlin's face if she were to lose her fiance makes him shiver, heart beating faster as he sends an affirmative back Ronnie's way.

"Blast door is good." He tells him as it slides open and Ronnie jogs back in.

"Did you wanna check over the radio frequency cavities?" He asks and pauses when Cisco nods. "You're quiet today. Is something up?"

Besides the fact that he's helping a time traveler blow up an entire city? "It's just nerves. It's been a whole two years since I started working on this thing and now we're about to fire it up."

"If it makes you feel any better, I heard there'll be celebratory champagne." Ronnie winks. "And Karen from finance set up a bar party for afterwards."

"Karen sets up a bar party every time the quarterly reports come in." Cisco replies dryly and Ronnie laughs.

"Well, I can't argue the truth. Now get over here so we can finish up the last of these tests."

They get to work.

...

Everything goes according to plan. Forty five minutes after Eobard makes his speech and gives the okay for the accelerator to start running, it blows. The entire building shakes with the force of it, almost knocking Cisco off his feet as he tries to shield Caitlin with his body. And Caitlin--

Caitlin is too distraught to notice, mouth opening in a scream that's more animal than human as she holds Cisco with too much strength. "Ronnie!"

"Ronnie's--" He can't say it. He cant get the words past the tightness in his throat as he pulls her into the hallway. It's safer here, echoing with the sound of the explosion as Caitlin lets out another scream of Ronnie's name.

"We can't stay here." He tells her and she sobs.

"I can't-- I can't leave him." She struggles against his hold for a moment, then goes limp, body slumping against his as she shakes. "I can't leave him."

They collapse in the hallway, Caitlin's body trembling in his arms as the building shudders around them. It should end soon, he knows it will and they're in the safest place they can be, where the building is the most sturdy and the brunt of the blast is cushioned by concrete. Everything is quiet for a moment, outside of their too quick breathing and the occasional hiccup that both of them release through their tears and the distant sound of the emergency alarms.

Then everything goes dark as the back up generators blow, the alarms cutting of mid-wail, and they're left alone in the cold, dark hall.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He'd had forewarning. He'd had a plan, a way to keep the people he loves safe and yet it hadn't been enough.

"I'm sorry." He whispers into Caitlin's hair and she curls into him tighter, making herself smaller as her tears dampen his shirt. He isn't sure how long they stay there, wrapped around each other for safety as the building slowly settles back into itself. His heartbeat slows down in the ensuing silence, but he can still feel Cait's, fluttering and quick like a bird's, and he becomes hyperaware for the briefest of moments, ears ringing as they strain to pick out any sounds of other people.

Something eventually comes, a flash of yellow and red that passes out of the corner of his eye and he knows that it's Eobard. He doesn't bother calling out to him, doesn't risk it now of all times and simply shifts to sit up more.

"We have to go." He tells Caitlin and she nods.

"I need to--" She swallows and pushes herself to her knees. "I need to check on the others, make sure they're okay."

"The emergency crews can do that." Cisco reminds her as they pull each other up, leaning against one another for strength. "I want to make sure you're okay."

"If I don't do something, I won't be." Caitlin says firmly and Cisco bites his lip against replying. They stumble into the Cortex and the after-explosion chaos there and he quickly loses sight of her once she begins checking people for injuries.

"We need to get a handle on the press." Karen from financing tells him as he passes, but he has no idea what she expects him to do. She must see it in the wide eyed look he gives her and pushes her hair out of her face in frustration. "There's bound to be a riot outside once people start collecting themselves and this place will be flooded with response teams in minutes. Where's Ronnie?"

"He--" And once again he can't say it. He can't.

Karen seems to understand, eyes going red as her face falls blank. "I'm sorry. I'll go speak with our public liaisons. Try to find Wells, okay?"

He nods and leaves the flurry of activity for the relative peace of the hallways, trusting that the others will keep things under control when he slips away. He uses his phone for light, staying close to the walls and avoiding any areas of the building that he knows wont be safe after an explosion of this magnitude.

When he reaches the time vault, he pauses, hand caught midair as he swallows back the rising panic in his throat. He takes a step back as everything starts to really hit him, as his stomach curls into a nauseating ball of guilt/fear/shame, and he cant stop the ragged sound that escapes his throat.

He stands there for what seems like ages, willing himself to press his palm against the hidden sensor in the wall. It slides open in a cascade of pieces as Eobard turns to face him, eyes bright with triumph.

"We did it." He says and he's nearly vibrating with excitement, fingers too tight as he grabs Cisco by the arms. "We created the Flash."

"We killed people." Cisco adds and Eobard frowns at him.

"You can't think of it like that." He brushes the hair from his face, tilting his chin up until their eyes meet. "This is a small sacrifice compared to all the good Barry Allen will do, you know that. Gideon?"

"Yes, Doctor?" The AI comes into view, a small smile on her face and Cisco feels a part of him calm just that little bit.

"Show me the future." Eobard tells her and she nods, a screen coming into view as she flickers out.

"It's a beach?" Cisco says and it is. It's a beach with crystal blue water and sand so white that the sun reflects off of it.

"It's home." Eobard corrects, holding out a hand for Cisco to come closer. "Gideon found it just recently and there's no way to tell how long it will stay, but this... This is my home, my past and your future all in one spot."

"And striking Barry with lightning did this?" Cisco asks dubiously, fingers hovering over the rippled line where the waves recede from the shore. It's just a picture, but for the briefest of moments he can hear the sound of the tide rising along the sand and smell the slight tang of salt in the air.

"It settled the timeline, however briefly, and gave me a glimpse of what's to come." The image flickers, going white for a moment before winking out of existence and Eobard frowns. "And just as quickly, it's gone again."

"What happened?"

"My guess is that Mr. Allen's heart just stopped." Eobard says with a delighted smile and Cisco whips around to face him with wide eyes.

"It what?!" If Barry is dead, then all of this is for nothing. All the people that died. Ronnie's sacrifice.

"It will come back. The doctors don't know what they're doing. Barry's heart is beating too fast for them to register, so they'll keep trying to restart it and..." The beach flickers back into view. "He'll come back."

"When are we moving him to the Labs?" Cisco asks, imagining Barry Allen. He's never seen him, he has no idea who he is beyond what Eobard has told him, and something very close to anticipation curls within him at the thought of finally meeting the man that holds Eobard's interests so completely.

"Soon enough." Eobard's voice is serene, patient and delighted as he looks at Cisco. "Mr. Allen will be the Flash and everything that we've worked toward will come to be. For now we just have to wait for the panic around us to calm down."

"Ronnie's dead." It feels like a betrayal when he says it, like he doesn't have the right to feel an ache at the thought of his friend's death. Not after causing it.

"And Caitlin?" Eobard asks, something dark in his eyes that makes Cisco swallow. "Is she safe?"

"Yeah, I..." He pictures her patching up their fellow employees with grim determination. "She's safe."

"Then we'll deal with the rest later. From tonight onward the three of us will be all that the other has." Eobard tells him and Cisco knows that whatever comes next is just the beginning. The grief and the pain, the loss, it all means something and while he may not have the full picture yet, he knows that he can't regret things now.

They'll grieve Ronnie and save Barry and create a future much brighter than the one before.

One step at a time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the explosion, Cisco tries to cope.

Eobard pays for the funerals. Each and every one of them gather to form a list of the lives that they sacrificed for their own futures and Cisco stays as far away from it as he can, busying himself with projects that no longer matter. 

He stays away from the press, changes the channel whenever STAR shows up on the news, and uses the side entrance when he enters the building. After a few days the reporters stop staking out in the hopes of catching an interview and by week two the angry mob outside begins to thin. The staff leaves with them, adding their resignations to the ever growing stack or simply not bothering to show up. 

Eobard weathers it all with grace, offering apologies and grievances where they're due and looking suitably chastised whenever he gives an interview. The wheelchair goes a long way toward furthering his story, drawing sympathy or at least pity from people that were set on condemning him before, but after the first press conference, Cisco sets his mind to put distance between himself and the consequences of the explosion.

This plan works perfectly for him until he's standing before Ronnie's grave in an all black suit that feels heavy and uncomfortable with guilt. Eobard isn't beside him, having not been invited by Mr. and Mrs. Raymond. Not after he killed their son and Cisco's guilt grows tenfold at the thought. Cisco has no right to be here, has no right to cry over the loss of a friend whose death he caused, but every time he thinks of slipping away into the crowd, Caitlin looks up at him through the shadow of her widow's veil and gives him a watery smile. 

"It means a lot that you came." She tells him after they've placed their roses atop the empty casket. Her arm is looped in his as she leans into him for comfort and he wraps an arm around her side. 

"Where else would I be?" He asks as they make their way down the gravel road leading out of the heart of the cemetery and Caitlin sniffs. "Ronnie was my friend." 

"You were his friend too, you know that, right?" Caitlin says and Cisco heart clenches. "He thought of you like a little brother. We both did."

"Cait..." He stops walking and pulls her to the side. "Are you-- Are you coming back?" 

Caitlin lips tilt into a frown beneath her veil and a part of Cisco panics. He can't lose them both, not like this. 

"I," She bites her lip, a look of such complete loneliness washing over her face as she watches her in-laws pass by. "I don't know. I got a job offer at another company and I don't think I can-- I can't go back to the labs, not right now."

"Okay," He says and for as moment she looks startled, mouth opening on a breath before she closes it again and nods. 

"Thank you Cisco." She tells him, voice low with sincerity before she slips back into the crowd and beyond to where her mother is standing in all black. She keeps her head high as she walks, shoulders tight with grief and Cisco knows that he's lost her too.

...

He creates a gun that reaches absolute zero a week later and locks it away in storage to keep himself from smashing it to so many pieces. He designs a suit and when he sets it on fire, he almost convinces himself that it's to test flame retardation. He develops a way to monitor Barry's imminent speed and swallows the lumps in his throat when Eobard smiles and calls him a genius.

None of this prepares him for actually meeting Barry Allen when he's finally moved to STAR Labs. He's pale and skinny and decidedly not a hero. At least not one that he believes could so wholeheartedly capture Eobard's attention. And yet...

There are times when he's left alone in the lab with just the two of them. Times when he can hear Eobard talking to Barry in a voice too quiet to properly make out and he has to force himself not to move closer. 

It's these times that he leaves to spend in the Time Vault. These times that he asks Gideon to show him a future that never changes no matter how many times he asks. She always shows him white sand and too blue water, a beach that's becoming more of an idea than an actual physical thing with every day that passes and finally he gets fed up with it.

"Show me my future." He tells her. The image flickers and morphs into something darker. It's a room that he recognises, a room that he passes every day here in this lab and yet the view of it is all wrong. 

He's standing with Eobard, a horrified expression on his face as red blossoms across his lover's chest and he falls to the ground. In the image --video, nightmare, whatever it is-- Caitlin rushes to him, lips forming words that he can't make out, but he can't look away from Eobard lying lifeless on the ground. 

"Show me a different future." He says and Gideon comes back into view. 

"I do not understand your request." She tells him and something hollow and dark blossoms in his chest. 

"Show me a different future, Gideon!" 

"I do not understand--" 

"The beach." He pleads and it flickers into view, crystalline and perfect as ever. 

"Does Eobard live?" He asks and Gideon stays quiet. "Please, Gideon." 

"Eobard Thawne lives in the twenty fifth century. Son of--" 

"Cisco?" 

Eobard is standing in the doorway, a frown tugging as his lips as he takes in the expression on his face. "What happened?" 

"You died." Cisco says and his throat goes tight. "I asked Gideon to show me the future and you died right in front of me." 

"Gideon, I believe that is enough for today." Eobard says, steps bringing him closer as Gideon dips her head and disappears. He turns to Cisco, a hand coming up to cup his chin and Cisco resists the urge to lean into it. "The future is a fluid thing. Something that Gideon shows you today may never come to pass, it all hinges upon our actions, not a pre-written sense of destiny." 

"But--" Cisco tries and the hand moves from his chin to his hair, fingers treading through it like silk. 

"Cisco, look at me." Eobard urges and Cisco tilts his head up. "You will not lose me, I won't allow it no matter what Gideon shows our future to be. Do you understand?" 

Cisco nods and Eobard smiles, quick and pleased. "There's my clever boy." 

...

He busies himself with the present and pushes the future aside. He looks into Barry's life, tries to understand what makes him so special in the eyes of Eobard Thawne and comes up with a tragedy. A mother murdered with a kitchen knife, a father sentenced to life in prison, and a little boy orphaned. He's taken in by a detective West and it takes Cisco far too long to make the connection to the woman that comes by every so often to check on their patient. 

"You grew up with him, right?" He asks the next time he sees her. The words come out before he can stop them and they feel wrong in the welcoming atmosphere of Jitters. They're uncomfortable and eclectic and he resist the urge to recoil when Iris pauses in the middle of picking up a coffee cup.

"Yeah, I did. It was... new. Having a little brother and no longer being the center of my dad's world but, Barry... Barry was the best little brother I could have asked for, despite the fact that I can't understand what he says half the time." 

She laughs when Cisco gives her a blank look, face lighting up with pride."Oh, Barry's a genius. An adorable nerdy genius with too much heart. And," She bites her lip and blinks a few times. "I don't want to lose him, you know?"

"You won't." He promises and it feels like a lie, his hand curling on the table so that he doesn't give into the urge to wrap her fingers up in his own. No matter how much she's hurting, he doesn't know her well enough to get away with something that personal. "Dr. Wells won't let him die, not if he can help it."

"You trust him?" She asks and it's not judgmental, just open and curious. 

He taps a finger against the table and thinks about his answer. Does he trust Eobard, even knowing what he knows? The obvious answer would be no, but that'd be as much as a lie as Harrison Wells is. Eobard may be a murderer, but there's something in him that has genuine feelings. No matter how easy it'd be to dismiss him as a vengeful monster, that wouldn't be the reality of it and -- "Yeah. I trust him. He's always been there for me. Even before I started working for him, he was something for me to aspire to. Something for me to work toward and... I owe him for making my life worth something." 

Iris is quiet for a long moment, mouth curled into a soft frown as she mulls over his words. "Okay," she allows and hoists her tray a little higher. "I'll take your word for it for now. It's not easy being the daughter of a detective, you know? You're raised to be wary and sometimes it's hard not to see darkness around every corner. And hey," She shifts the tray and pats him on the shoulder. "Don't sell yourself short. If you managed to gain the confidence of Harrison Wells, you have to be pretty damn special in your own right."

Her words make something in him shift, something that he hadn't realized was out of place until it clicks back like a resistor in a circuit that's not quite right, and when he smiles, it's with genuine warmth. 

"Thank you." He says and her answering smile is equally warm. 

"Any time." She tells him and pauses as she turns. "Oh and the drink is on the house."

...

The Lab is too quiet without Caitlin to talk to. He takes to putting music on and when he goes through every song on his phone, he switches to the Spotify that's on his facebook. It drowns out the sound of the construction on the floor above them as the damage from the explosion is cleared and the less hospitable sections of the lab are sealed away. 

He creates blueprints of the new layout and makes sure that the time vault is kept secret. It leaves an inconsistency in the floor designs, but without someone actively looking for hidden rooms, he doubts that it'll stick out too much. 

When Eobard sees the designs, he smiles and it's full of unbridled pride now that they're alone. "You always manage to astound me, my clever boy." Eobard says and Cisco swallows, a hand coming up to push his hair out of his face. He isn't quite used the absense of his bun, but Thawne likes it, so...

"It's just a blueprint." He deflects with a shrug and Eobard's breath ghosts over the shell of his ear as he leans over his shoulder. 

"While that may be true, it's certainly a piece of the plan that I had yet to think of." He replies and something in Cisco's chest shivers as a thumb begins to stroke over his pulse point. "You're good at that. Thinking of the small things that make something perfect. It's one of the reasons I originally hired you."

"I thought you said you hired me for my humanity." Cisco objects and Eobard chuckles.

"Lets just say that there are countless benefits to having you by my side." 

"Like my taste in music." Cisco jokes, but Eobard hums in agreement. 

"And you're remarkable intellect. You're sense of heart and you're ever growing confidence. You're love of movies and you're willingness to help those in need." 

"Would you count toward the latter?" Cisco asks and it's more curiosity toward Eobard's answer than a joke this time.

His boss laughs and presses a soft kiss to his temple. "Very much so, Mr. Ramon." He replies with something heated curling in his words and Cisco chest goes tight.

"Eobard," He murmurs and the other man hums. 

"I think it's about time we go home, don't you?" He asks and Cisco saves his work and locks the computer with a few swift keystrokes. It's as he's pulling his satchel out off the hook by the door that his phone starts to chime. Digging it out of his bag, he scramble to answer it before it goes to voicemail when he recognizes Caitlin's face on the display screen.

"Cait?" He asks, tilting his body to the side in a play for privacy when Eobard sends him a questioning look.

"Cisco, I..." She gives a shuddering sigh and Cisco feels a thrill of panic go through him at the evidence of grief he hears in the sound. "I think it's time that I came back. If-- if that's all right?"

Within his chest, Cisco's heart breaks and rebuilds itself. "Of course, Cait. You're family."

On the other of the line, Caitlin gives a hiccupping cry. "I don't know what I was thinking, leaving you and Dr. Wells. After Ronnie... I was so lost and I didn't know what to do--"

"Hey, hey, no, it's okay. You don't have to explain." He smiles and hopes that she can hear it in his voice. "No one's mad at you for needing time, Cait. In fact," He glances at Eobard, who gives a nod. "We could really use your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this chapter has certainly been a long time coming! Sorry about that. Quite frankly, I'm horrible at updating consistently, but hopefully this chapter makes up for it?


End file.
